St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office detectives said Koch and the woman met online and then began speaking on the telephone before they agreed to meet early in the morning Oct. 24 at a Fort Pierce intersection.

The woman told detectives Koch drove her to a secluded rural area adjacent to Florida's Turnpike and forced her to have sex with him. She said she was able to escape and hid from him until she flagged down a passing patrol car.

Detectives said they were able to gather physical evidence from the scene that helped them identify the woman's attacker.

"Fortunately, the victim in this case was able to keep a good head on her shoulders and direct our detectives to the crime scene," St. Lucie County Sheriff Ken Mascara said. "With the information she provided, our investigators were able to recover evidence that helped lead us to the identity of this suspect."

Mascara said investigators also obtained search warrants for Koch's vehicle and extracted a sample of his DNA that helped strengthen their case against him.